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Preliminary Settlement Reached in Dudenhoeffer Case"The stock-drop lawsuit that led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on company stock funds in defined contribution plans has been tentatively settled for $6 million.... As part of the settlement, Fifth Third Bancorp agreed to make several plan design changes, most notably freezing its company stock fund.... The company also will prepare an education campaign to inform participants about the changes and about 'the benefits of asset allocation and diversification'[.] "
(Pensions & Investments)

100 CEOs Have More Saved Up for Retirement Than 41 Percent of U.S. Families Combined"The report, in a way, obscures the crisis at hand. The comparison it's making -- between 100 exceedingly well-paid executives and tens of millions of Americans -- suggests intolerable corporate excess. As the report makes clear, on the CEO side of the equation, there are beefy retirement accounts flush with more than $4.5 billion. But on the typical-American side of the equation, there are a huge number of people who have practically nothing saved up -- for all American households nearing retirement age, the median retirement-account balance is about $12,000. So, it's not so much that these CEOs have a lot (they do) but that everyone else has next to nothing."
(The Atlantic)

Fate of 400,000 Teamster Pensions Rests in Ken Feinberg's Hands"[Special Master Kenneth Feinberg], 70, who also helped adjudicate claims in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and will soon oversee a fund to compensate victims of state-sponsored terrorism, has repeatedly reminded retirees that the law requires him to answer three big questions: Did Central States exhaust all other alternatives? Are the benefit cuts equitable? And will they preserve the fund?"
(Bloomberg)

ASPPA's Retirement Plan Fundamentals course has been redesigned as online, interactive modules. Perfect for anyone new to the industry or who is preparing for an ASPPA credential. Ask your employer to make RPF part of your professional development.

New Fiduciary Standard May Force Brokers to Put Your Retirement Interests First"According to [a recent] survey ... 46 percent of Americans incorrectly believe that advisers already 'are legally required to put the best interests of their clients first' when dealing with retirement assets. The majority of respondents, 54 percent, knew advisers weren't under that requirement, but they sure weren't happy about it. Overall, 93 percent said it's important that all advisers put clients' interests first when providing retirement advice."
(Bloomberg)

Independent Broker-Dealer Advisors Change Tune on Digital Advice Ahead of Fiduciary Rule"Ladenburg Thalmann believes it has a solution: $ymbil, its new digital advice platform. The self-service portfolio account will be made available to its advisor network and will require a minimum $500 investment to open.... The launch comes amidst industry expectations that smaller accounts collectively worth billions will be dropped by firms unwilling to service them due to cost or liabilities, straight into the arms of independent robo platforms."
(On Wall Street)

New Florida Law Allows Local Sales Tax to Fund Pensions"Florida cities and counties will have the option of funding the pension liabilities of government plans via a half-cent sales tax under new legislation ... [which] takes effect July 1 and will let municipalities propose a local sales tax to aid underfunded local pension plans ... subject to approval by a voter referendum. To take advantage of the tax option, the relevant pension plans must prohibit new enrollees into any defined benefit plan, must be below 80 percent funded and must require employees to contribute at least 10 percent of their salaries to the retirement plan."
(Bloomberg BNA)

Will More Transparency Help with Public Pension Plan Financing?"That's the premise behind a bill introduced in Congress to require state and local government pension plans to be more candid, but whether it turns out to be true will depend on what accounting standard is used to determine plan liabilities... The introduction of PEPTA fits into a decade-old campaign by economists and their actuary allies who believe that all pension plans should be evaluated on a 'market liability basis' ... [which] calculates a plan's liability according to the discount rate that the plan would get if it were to go into the market and settle its pension obligations by purchasing an annuity or portfolio of low risk bonds[.]"
(Bloomberg BNA)

FASB Issues Standard to Simplify Share-Based Payment Accounting"In addition to rules that affect all organizations that issue share-based payments, the ASU contains provisions that simplify two areas specific to private companies:... [1] [P]rivate companies will be able to apply a practical expedient to estimate the expected term for all awards with performance or service conditions that have certain characteristics. [2] Private companies will be able to make a one-time election to switch from measuring all liability-classified awards at fair value to measuring them at intrinsic value."
(Journal of Accountancy)

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